- December 4, 2025
Defunding youth sports? That hasn't been discussed, Ormond Beach mayor Jason Leslie said.
A Facebook post published on local community groups on Wednesday, Aug. 27, stated that the mayor planned to propose cutting funding for all city recreational sports in order to "shift dollars elsewhere."
The post asked the community to attend the City Commission meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 3 — where the commission will vote on the budget — to protect youth sports.
Leslie said the post's claims are untrue.
"There has been no discussion by myself or the Commission to eliminate Ormond Beach Sports," he said in a statement to the Observer. "This is exactly the kind of rumor that gets started by political opponents to create unnecessary fear and confusion."
The Ormond Beach City Commission last discussed the budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 at its workshop on Aug. 20, during which they reduced the budget by cutting funding for vehicle and equipment replacement, an IT analyst position and a Consumer Price Index adjustment for the city's landscaping contract.
The proposed tax rate increase went from 10.2% to 7.66%, and commissioners are set to vote on a rate of 4.4797 mills, or $4.4797 per $1,000 in taxable property value, at their meeting next week.
At the Aug. 20 workshop, the mayor did say he wanted further cuts, but when asked by commissioners for ideas on where to trim the budget down further, Leslie said he'd need time to think about it.
City staff reported that further budget cuts would lead to service reductions, particularly in parks and recreation, and likely would need to include recreational facility closures.
Cutting funding from youth sports was not an option discussed at the workshop, nor presented by city staff.
